Episode 414: Hot Property
Hot Property is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season and the fifty-eighth episode overall. Notes *Clients: *Bad Guys: Natalie Rice Synopsis In order to get the location where the NOC List is being sold, Jesse is forced to blackmail his old handler into giving them intel. Meanwhile, Michael assists Fiona in a plan to rescue a kidnapped girlfriend, however after they finish scouting the house where she's being held, the client is killed by Fiona's old enemy Natalie, who threatens to turn them over to the police if they do not help her steal back something from the house. Now, Michael and his team must make sure chemical weapons don't fall into the wrong hands, whilst keeping themselves out of jail. Spy Facts *National intelligence agencies and local law enforcement work together more often than you might think. Most metropolitan police stations have an office called a fusion center where classified intel is collected in one place. It’s a great resource if you need information fast. Unfortunately, it does involve breaking into a police station. *Because undercover cops and confidential informants don’t like their pictures taken. Only the public areas of police stations are kept under surveillance. So once you’re past the lobby, the only cameras you have to avoid are the ones taking mug shots. * Get caught with a lock-pick set in a police station, and you’ve got problems. A pair of cheap sunglasses is less suspicious and just about as effective. Modify them in advance, and you can use the stems as a rake and tension tool. And if you get caught, you’re just a guy with some busted sunglasses. *Police officers uphold the chain of command as sacred. Act like you’re in charge, and someone new to the force won’t dare question your authority. *It’s hard to forgive someone after a betrayal, even if it was for a good cause. There’s nothing more difficult to repair in the field than trust. *Blackmail may be effective at times, but it’s never fun. The problem is that it works best on people that are basically good. If someone’s made a mistake he regrets, it’s easy to make him regret it even more. *Scouting security from a distance is mainly just a matter of observation. You set up in a concealed place and watch incoming vehicles, personnel, and weapons. Getting additional information usually requires a more direct approach. *The best security probe isn’t necessarily stealthy. Sometimes you want to be right out in the open. With the right approach, you can march up to your enemy’s front door, evaluate his defenses, and personnel, without anyone realizing what you’re up to. *It may surprise anyone who has left on a stove burner, but natural gas is odorless. The smell most people think of as gas is actually an additive called T.H.T., which means that making people think there’s a gas leak is as simple as pumping T.H.T. into the air with a portable pump and some rubber hose. It’s safe, effective, and easy to deploy. But it smells like you’ve just wandered into an open sewer. Then you just have to get the package in place without anyone getting suspicious. *Recruiting a source is a painful process. Threatening to ruin someone’s life can put a lot of strain on a relationship and make it tough to work together. But sometimes a bad relationship is the best you can do. *Any strategy based on creating fear in your target is a bit of a gamble. It’s not just a matter of whether you succeed in making your target afraid. That’s easy. What’s a lot harder is ensuring that they don’t fear something else even more. *Intelligence work is all about relationships. Like a romance, working with a source is more about the heart than the head. Of course, romantic relationships usually end if there’s a betrayal, whereas spy relationships often begin with one. *There’s a reason most surprise attacks are just before dawn. Sleepers hit their deepest R.E.M cycles just before sunrise, which makes it harder to come to full alertness. And anyone on watch is likely to be exhausted and at the end of a shift. *Small-caliber, high-velocity bullets can pierce fragile surfaces without shattering them. If you need to knock out floodlights from a few hundred yards away, they’re even better than an off switch. *Spray insulation is handy for more than keeping your house cool in the summer. Use it to fill the diaphragm of a siren, and it will be about as noisy as a lawn gnome. *Burning at temperatures over 8,000 degrees, thermal lances are used by construction crews to cut through rock and steel. They’re tricky to operate, but they’ll slice through a heavy dead bolt like butter. *Spies are trained to be careful around road work. Too many workers for too little work, you’re probably driving into a snatch and grab. No workers with road blocks guiding you toward a freshly paved pothole rather than away from one, it’s a good bet you’re about to drive over a bomb. *When a spy finds a listening device, the last thing he does is turn it off. A bug can be a direct line into the mind of your enemy. It’s delicate, but in the right hands, it’s a weapon that can turn almost any situation in your favor. *Making fake weapons is a little-known but important art. If you don’t want to put real killing power in the hands of a bad guy, you need a convincing substitute. A fake chemical weapon has to be able to pass a field test, usually a simple chemical analysis and a cruel demonstration with a small animal. Strong pesticide mixed with tear gas and diesel fuel will do the trick without killing anyone who weighs more than 20 pounds. *You never forget your first exposure to tear gas. It feels like you’re drowning in your own fluids. There’s a reason why nothing induces panic like a gas attack. Full Recap Cast Main *Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen *Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe *Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne *Coby Bell as Jesse Porter *Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen Recurring *Richard Kind as Marv *Callie Thorne as Natalie Rice Guest *Chris Conner as Stuart *Roberto Escobar as Marco Trivia Continuity Errors Category:Season 4 414